


A Heart that Wants Your Heart

by Inkyrius



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Dancing, F/F, Humor, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-17 00:44:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13647861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkyrius/pseuds/Inkyrius
Summary: In preparation for the upcoming dance, Tenko agrees to teach Kaede how to dance. There's no way this can backfire on her.





	A Heart that Wants Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kadma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kadma/gifts).



Tenko wasn’t sure how she’d gotten into this mess.

Well, that wasn’t strictly speaking true. She just liked complaining. The fact was, she could pinpoint the exact moment that had led to her downfall.

She’d been in her room, winding down for the evening, when there was a knock on her door. When she opened it, Kaede was standing in the hallway, hands behind her back. Tenko brightened up immediately. “Kaede! What brings you here? Is one of the degenerates bothering you? I’d be happy to deal with them.”

Kaede smiled. “No, I’m fine. Actually, though, I do have a favor to ask of you.”

“Of course! You’ve come to the right girl,” Tenko said. “What do you need?”

“You know how there’s a dance coming up soon?” Tenko did know, in fact. She was looking forward to it. All the cute girls in her class dressing up for the occasion would be a sight to behold.

But right now, she had a cute girl in front of her, so she should probably actually focus. Kaede was in the middle of saying, “I was hoping to go, but the thing is, I don’t actually know how to dance.” She fidgeted with the bottom of her skirt. “Would you be willing to teach me?”

Tenko sucked in a breath. “I’d love to, but are you sure I’m the right person to ask? Surely one of our classmates is better qualified. Kirumi, maybe? She’s really elegant, she probably knows how to dance.”

Kaede shook her head. “Kirumi’s so busy, and I think she’s planning to ask someone to the dance soon anyway. Either way, I don’t want to bother her. But you’re a martial artist. You’re good at physical things like this. Dancing is basically just fancy aikido moves, right?”

“I guess?” Tenko’s already wavering resolve crumbled in the face of compliments from a pretty girl. “Okay, then it’s decided. Meet me in the gym tomorrow after class. We’ll have you dancing like a master!”

“Thank you!” Kaede made that adorable determined face she made whenever she had her mind set on something. “You’re a lifesaver. Good night!”

“Good night!” Kaede began to walk away, and Tenko closed her door. She sighed loudly. She probably shouldn’t have agreed to this. It was fine, though. Like Kaede said, dancing couldn’t be too different from Neo-Aikido. She’d be able to teach it with no problems.

She pulled out her laptop and began frantically googling how to dance. 

* * *

 

Dancing was nothing like Neo-Aikido, as Tenko realized five seconds after their first lesson started. For one thing, Neo-Aikido was about inflicting as much pain on your opponent as possible. Tenko had no interest in hurting Kaede.

More importantly, though, Neo-Aikido was a style that emphasized freedom and creativity. Your opponent couldn’t stop what they couldn’t predict. And they definitely couldn’t stop you if you crushed their spine before the match started.

The point was that Tenko enjoyed having the ability to do whatever seemed right in the moment. Dancing was basically the opposite of that. You had set moves that you carried out in a set order, and then you did the same thing for the rest of time. Any deviation would just confuse your partner.

So while Tenko had had no problem getting the moves down, now that she was practicing them with Kaede, she was bored to tears.

It was fine, though. She wasn’t going to back out of a promise. Kaede had come to her for help, and Tenko would provide it, because she was a hero of justice. Even if that meant she was stuck doing the same boring moves for the next week.

She looked around for something to take her mind off of it, and wow, Kaede’s face was right by hers. She’d known that they were close, but now that she was paying attention, she could see all the nuances of Kaede’s expression. The way her brow was furrowed in concentration. The slight smile as she settled into the movements. She was absolutely gorgeous.

Tenko reined in that train of thought. She’d already known that Kaede was beautiful, because she had eyes. There was no reason to let it distract her now. Even if she was acutely aware of Kaede’s hand in hers. Kaede’s fingers were so soft, and just a little cool. Tenko wished they could do this more often. It would be nice to just reach out and interlace Kaede’s fingers with her own.

“Okay!” she said abruptly. Kaede flinched at the sudden loud noise. “Ah, sorry. But anyway, it looks like you’ve mastered the basic step! Well done. How about we take a quick break, and then we move on to something a little more complicated?”

Kaede smiled. “That sounds good to me. Thanks again for doing this.”

“No problem!” Tenko willed herself not to blush. There was nothing to be embarrassed about. She was just doing a perfectly normal favor for a perfectly platonic friend. That was all.

She didn’t believe her own words. She knew she was already too far gone. 

* * *

 

Tenko was well aware of her weakness for girls. Well, it was more a weakness for cute girls, but the fact that she had yet to meet a girl she didn’t consider cute meant that the distinction was meaningless.

It didn’t help that she was attending Hope’s Peak. She was surrounded every day by so many beautiful, talented girls she could barely stand it. She was pretty sure that she’d had a crush on every girl in her class at some point or another.

With that wealth of experience falling for girls, she felt qualified to say that she had it bad for Kaede. Admiring Kaede’s leadership abilities and her kindness was normal. Thinking about how soft her hair looked would indicate a crush. But fantasizing about having completely mundane conversations with her? Losing the ability to form sentences for a full minute after hearing her laugh? This went beyond Tenko’s usual short-lived affections.

Really, though, who could blame her? Kaede was good-natured, and thoughtful, and intelligent. She had a great sense of humor. Once she’d set her heart on something, she’d stop at nothing to achieve her goals. And to top it all off, she was incredibly attractive.

Plus, you know, she was a performer. She had a way of playing for an entire audience and still making you feel like you were the only one listening, like her music was a secret the two of you shared. That was more than reason enough to fall in love with her.

Under normal circumstances, this realization would have been fine. Tenko was well-practiced in dealing with her feelings. She’d confess to the object of her affections, and if she was rejected, she’d redouble her efforts to be a good friend. It would hurt for a while, but she could handle it. It was always worth the hope her feelings would be reciprocated.

The problem was that Kaede had come to her for lessons for the upcoming dance. That implied that she had already decided to go with someone else. And while Tenko was sure that she’d turn her down nicely, Kaede was also the sort of person to worry about Tenko’s feelings for the rest of the week. There was no way Tenko was going to ruin the dance for her like that.

Which meant she was just going to have to suffer in silence, something she was notoriously bad at doing. She’d manage. After all, it was for Kaede’s sake.

Besides, there were still a few more lessons before the dance. Tenko was going to spend them being the best, most supportive dance teacher Kaede had ever had.

And if Tenko planned to spend the next hour looking up complicated twirls and flourishes, that was just part of the job. It had nothing to do with trying to impress Kaede.

* * *

 

The afternoon of their last lesson came far too soon for Tenko’s liking. She could swear the gym seemed darker than usual, though she knew it was just her imagination. She kept catching herself staring at Kaede’s face. She’d try to focus on the stage, only to stop paying attention for a moment and go back to looking at Kaede.

She needed to pull herself together. The dance was tomorrow, and after that she could confess and put all of this behind her. She just had to hold on for one more day.

One small mercy was that Kaede hadn’t noticed Tenko’s stiffness. She seemed almost as distracted as Tenko, her eyes locked on her feet but her mind clearly elsewhere. Normally Kaede’s talent translated to a good sense of rhythm, but today even that was off. She kept moving too soon and nearly stepping on Tenko’s feet.

After twenty minutes of this, Tenko gave up and called for a break. Maybe that would clear their minds.

She closed her eyes as she chugged a water bottle, hoping the familiar sensation would keep her grounded. That hope shattered when Kaede spoke up. “So, um. Do you have a date to the dance yet?”

Tenko set down her water bottle, but didn’t turn back to Kaede. She knew that her emotions would be written all over her face. “No, I was just planning to go hang out with everyone. Who needs a date, you know?”

“… Yeah.”

Silence filled the room. Tenko knew what she had to do, even if it pained her deeply. Her friendship with Kaede came before any stupid crush she might have. For the sake of that friendship, she would ask the question she least wanted an answer to. “What about you? Who’s your lucky dance partner?”

“About that.” Kaede sounded so nervous that Tenko had to turn around, ready to provide emotional support. Kaede deserved to be happy. Tenko would do whatever she could to give her that, even if that meant reassuring her about dancing with some degenerate male.

She sent a quick prayer to Angie’s god that she wouldn’t be tested on that.

Her eyes met Kaede’s, which were focused for the first time that afternoon. She looked even more earnest than usual. “I was hoping that by now I’d be a good enough dancer to sweep you off your feet, but it looks like that’s not happening, so this will have to do.” She swallowed. “Will you go to the dance with me?”

Tenko did her best not to hyperventilate. Yes, this was a dream come true, but Kaede was looking for an answer and it would be rude to keep her waiting. “Of course!” she said, or at least tried to. All that she succeeded in doing was squealing in delight. She couldn’t help it, she was just so excited!

Kaede’s expression was hovering on the border of amusement and concern, and Tenko figured she should try again with actual words. “I’d love to!” she managed. “That would be amazing!”

She was so full of energy all of a sudden. All she wanted to do was throw someone, but the only person around was Kaede, who definitely didn’t deserve to be thrown. Tenko settled for bouncing up and down a few times.

Kaede laughed at the sight, and there went Tenko’s ability to form sentences again. She didn’t mind. She didn’t need words to express her excitement.

It took a lap of the gym for her to calm down enough to think about what should happen next. She’d have to buy flowers, of course, and should probably make sure that their outfits coordinated. Those were issues for later, though. Right now Kaede was right there, and they were going to the dance together, and everything was amazing.

She went back to Kaede’s side. “You know, we are still in the middle of a lesson,” she said. “If you like, I can show you some of the super fancy moves I looked up.”

Kaede nodded. She was still smiling so wide, her face had to hurt, but it wasn’t like Tenko was doing much better. “I’d like that.”

Tenko took her hand in hers, reveling in the thrill of contact, and began the most complicated twirl she’d found.

They were going to show up all the other couples. With Kaede’s beauty and their combined dance skills, no one else stood a chance.


End file.
